We explain.

In a 2016 Army statement on AMP, quoting a senior program manager, describes it impact this way…. "Right now our crews face the dilemma as they go into combat of deciding what rounds to load in the turret and carry in the gun. If they choose wrong, they could have a mismatch between target and ammunition, which will cost them valuable seconds while in enemy contact.”

A single emerging US Army Abrams tank round is engineered to attack and destroy enemy tanks, bunkers, concrete walls, light armored vehicles and even small groups of enemy fighters - by enabling crews to instantly adjust its explosive effect within seconds.

The Army’s Advanced Multi-Purpose 120 mm ammunition round is being prepared for a far-superior M1A2 SEP v4 Abrams tank variant for the 2020s and beyond — designed to be more lethal, faster, lighter weight, better protected, equipped with new sensors and armed with upgraded, more effective weapons, service officials said.

(This article by Kris Osborn originally appeared in DefenseMaven in 2019.)

The AMP round, according to Northrop Grumman and Army developers, will replace four tank rounds now in use by consolidating various possible blast effects into a single round, using variable “fuse” adjustments and an advanced Ammunition Data Link.